Common steam boilers utilize a plurality of drums usually including an upper steam drum and a lower mud drum. These two drums are connected by a plurality of bent tubes made from steel or some other suitable material. These tubes are connected to the drums through apertures in the skin of each drum and are generally aligned vertically beneath the steam drum and above the mud drum. In the most common applications the tubes are bent at their upper and lower ends and are reduced in diameter for a predetermined length along their terminal portions for insertion into the apertures in the drums. Each tube may weigh as much as 200 pounds. When the tubes are initially installed or if the tubes are to be replaced at some point in the life of the boiler the process is a painstaking and time-consuming chore in that it must be performed within the confines of the boiler chamber which may be inadequately ventilated. The physical labor involved in lifting each tube in what may be a 2,000 tube boiler is quite arduous. Heretofore the process has required that one or more workers physically enter the steam drum and engage one end of the bent tube through the aperture in the steam drum and manually urge the tube into position and alignment with the aperture. His co-workers would then position the lower end of the tube in an associated aperture in the top of the mud drum. The ends of the tubes are then rolled internally of the drum in a conventional manner to effect the proper seal. The process as traditionally performed requires approximately four man hours per tube to install each tube used in the boiler. Thus installing or replacing the tubes in a generating bank of a boiler traditionally requires six to eight weeks during which the boiler is obviously inoperable. In addition to being extremely time-consuming it should be noted that the lifting and positioning of these 200 pound tubes in the manner described hereinabove is an extremely precarious operation which is physically demanding on the workers and involves considerable risk of injury.